[rachelled]

Hello I'm new here, so pardon my mistakes if I've made any...

This is my betta, I've had him for about 2 months now I think. I chose him knowing he might die, because he was easily the saddest looking one in a store full of really sickly looking bettas

When I took him home he seemed to perk up for a little. He looked his best around the time I took this photo. That's him in full flare - fins seem to be a little bent up.

But now he's really listless... he just floats at the top and barely moves. He's always been kind of lazy but I'm getting a bit worried. I tried moving him from a 1 gallon tank to a 3 gallon, but no change. He won't even react unless I touch his head, then he gets a little upset.

Any ideas what could be wrong?? I'm a new betta owner and I'm not sure what to do. He doesn't seem to have fin rot and I change his new bigger tank weekly. By contrast, the other betta I bought at the same time and store is doing great, and is always active.

 

[Mo]

Housing
What size is your tank?
What temperature is your tank?
Does your tank have a filter?
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration?
Is your tank heated?
What tank mates does your betta fish live with?

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish?
How often do you feed your betta fish?

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change?
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change?
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change?

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity:

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed?
How has your betta fish's behavior changed?
When did you start noticing the symptoms?
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how?
Does your fish have any history of being ill?
How old is your fish (approximately)?

 

[MyRainbowBettaFish]

Welcome to the forum! I am sorry your betta isn't feeling well! We will need a little more info to help you though;

how big is your tank:
how often do you clean your tank:
how often do you feed your fish:
filtered?:
heated?:
what do you feed your fish:
how often has your fish been showing these symptoms? Have you treated him with any medications?

have you changed anything in his tank recently?

have you tested your water parameters? If so:

ammonia:
nitrite:
nitrate:
ph:
hardness:

also what do you add to your water with each water change?

how long have you had your betta?


sorry about all the questions, but we want to make sure we can give you the most accurate advice. As of now, i recommend a water change just to perk him up, as water changes are usually the best remedy for many illnesses or even just to perk up a fish.

you can also visit this website for further info:

http://www.Bettatalk.com


Good Luck for now!

 

[MyRainbowBettaFish]

oh darn it mo, you beat me to it! haha

 

[rachelled]

Housing
What size is your tank? 3 gallons
What temperature is your tank? 65 degrees
Does your tank have a filter? No
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? No
Is your tank heated? Yes - non-adjustable though.
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? N/A

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? Bloodworms or pellets
How often do you feed your betta fish? Once a day

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? Once every week or so
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 50%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Nutrafin Aqua Plus

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?
No

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? No
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? Yes - More inactive than normal, though he was inactive to start. Clamped fins.
When did you start noticing the symptoms? A few weeks ago.
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? More frequent water changes.
Does your fish have any history of being ill? Possibly.. I picked him because he looked half-dead, though he seemed to have improved for a while.
How old is your fish (approximately)? 3-4 months?

 

[MyRainbowBettaFish]

Clamped fins are not usually a good sign. The one thing you need to change immediately is the temperature of your tank though. Bettas need warm water because they are tropical fish, and they need their water to be between 78-80 Fahrenheit all the time. Cold temperatures can lead to a lot of problems.

 

[Mo]

I think your problem is the tank temperature.

Bettas are tropical fish originating from areas were the tempeerature is both stable and warm. Ideally bettas should be placed in a temperature of 78 as any lower will result in inactivity, or lethargy. They will also be more susceptible to diseases.

What brand of pellets do you feed and how much daily? Some pellets don't contain the ideal nutrients that bettas need in there diet to thrive. Some highly recommendable ones are new life spectrum, omega one, and atisons Betta pro.

Also. Feeding bloodworms can be a good thing but only x2 or x1 weekly as having too much too often can be unhealthy for a Betta fish.

I would purchase an adjustable 25 watt heater for your tank, for this exact reason. Non-adjustable heaters don't work as well in colder temperatures and have no way to change them if they aren't working efficiently in those colder temperatures. Another reason is diseases. Many cures for diseases involve heating or raising the temperature with a non-adjustable heater. You will not be able to do this

The water change amount you are proceeding with is very low. To keep ammonia minimal and in non-toxic levels. Water changes of x1 50% and x100% water changes weekly should be done

 

[MyRainbowBettaFish]

I think your problem is the tank temperature.

Bettas are tropical fish originating from areas were the tempeerature is both stable and warm. Ideally bettas should be placed in a temperature of 78 as any lower will result in inactivity, or lethargy. They will also be more susceptible to diseases

The water change amount you are proceeding with is very low. To keep ammonia minimal and in non-toxic levels. Water changes of x1 50% and x100% water changes weekly should be done

i agree with mo all the way. Just like i said, warm water is key.

http://www.Bettatalk.com:lol:

 

[rachelled]

I have an adjustable heater I can use, I wasn't aware that it was so awfully low. It felt warmer than room temperature and I didn't want to burn him... and the guy at the store basically laughed at me when I even said the heater was for a betta. I had just heard they were tropical so I thought it couldn't hurt.

I was alternating feeding pellets and bloodworms, but I can definitely ease up on the bloodworms and look for a better pellet.

Anyway, I will change in the adjustable heater in a moment. I'm guessing I should remove him until it's at the temperature I want?

Doesn't a 100% water change shock the fish??

Thanks for the help

 

[MyRainbowBettaFish]

You won't have to remove the betta if you have a submersible heater like i do. All you do i set the temperature on the heater and plug it in and it will warm the tank It cannot really burn the betta, only if the betta like hugs the heater for a long time. My betta seems to like the heat and snuggle close to it, so i don't think you will have a problem . I meant a partial water change, where you change 50% of the water with a siphon, or gravel vacuum.


check out this site:

http://www.Bettatalk.com

 

[rachelled]

Thank you

I changed the heater as suggested. He barely moved except when I accidentally touched him.

Sorry to be bugging you with so many questions, but is it possible he misses his old tank? I noticed the behavior around the time I moved him to a larger tank, but it was because I'd heard 1 gallon just wasn't enough.